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There are too many factors as to when a transmission could/would fail. Do regular maintenance and that is a big help. Especially if you plan on keeping the vehicle a long time. My wife and I have a 06 corolla (wife brought new) now with 176,000 miles and it is solid (hopefully stays that way for awhile). We are hoping to get at least 200k with little to no issues. did have to replace the cat within the last year or so.
Are you having any symptoms or is the transmission slipping?
So far I don't feel any problems with the tranny. Do they fail catastrophically or do they give you a warning usually? Like car batteries, they don't usually die on me immediately but tell you when they are about to go out so you have a chance to replace them in time.
I have driven a couple of Buicks up well over 200,000 miles without any transmission problems (original transmissions). I change out part of the fluid periodically, though, but don't change the filters. I just pump it out the fill tube and add new and top it off.
You really can't apply a specific mileage range to a transmission problem. Nor to any specific make or model although after a while you do see a pattern with some vehicles.
You'll usually notice something amiss like a tendency to not slip into gear on first starting it up, a harsh upshift or downshift, fluid changing to a burnt brown much earlier than it should, fluid leaks from bad seals that cause early failure from running at low fluid levels, an increasingly loud sound from the torque converter area, so many things.
The only thing you could say is the 150k mark is starting to edge in to the trouble zone for many vehicles. But even then I've seen trannys go for 300k with no fluid changes and no troubles. There's just no standard rule to apply to this.
You are very lucky to get this far with any Chrysler product minivan automatic transmission. These transmissions are notorious for failures.
So doing nothing and it fails - some will blame failure for not changing fluid.
Having fluid changed now - some will blame the failure for changing the fluid.
Either choice. You can't win.
As stated many times here. Never ever get a "flush" on an older transmission no matter what "information" is thrown at you.
Do only a gravity drain. Replace necessary fluid with new fluid. Put in a new filter. ASK to VIEW the pan AFTER the drain and BEFORE the new fluid is put in. You will see black gunk on bottom of pan and possibly some small metal pieces.
But no matter what. The failure will occur and the blame will go to not changing the fluid or the blame will go to the changing of the fluid.
Just as engine oil. The fluid breaks down and does not lubricate as new fluid. A pan drop/filter change will add some new fluid that will aid in the lubrication of the transmission gears and such.
Heat is the main enemy of automatic transmissions. Living in Arizona - there are some quite hot days. The current fluid is not lubricating as it should as most of the lubrication properties have gone from the old fluid.
We're in Arizona so condition "dusty" may apply sometimes but not usual. That's the thing - it's so vague. What does "dusty" mean... doing dirt roads every day or our occasional dust storm? Anyways, I feel it's now too late to start changing the tranny fluid for the first time at 143k miles. Better hope and pray and keep it in. Or?
It's not too late.
I had a 1997 Chrysler T&C with that transmission and at about 120K miles it would not go in freezing weather unless I waited for it to heat up.
So I dropped the pan and replaced the fluid and filter with the new updated fluid (ATF+4).
I actually filled it, drove it, then dropped the pan and filled it again to get all the old fluid out. You could flush it but I don't trust those places to do the job correctly.
I've had good luck with every make transmission except Honda. I had one fail on a crv at about 130k and an accord at over 100k. My sister had an odyssey that the trans failed at just under a 100k but Honda repaired it because of the numerous failures, it failed again 25k later on her dime. I've done 4-5 "bucket flushes" on my Silverado, getting all the fluid out each time.
I sold our '03 Accord 6cyl, at 80K in '13 as I suspected we would have it go out before too long. The Honda service writer said they usually last till about 130k. I had changed the fluid around 60 K. But didn't want to get stuck with it going out. The other Accords I had were 5 speed and drove over 130K both with original clutches.
What years were the Honda's? I heard the odysseys had some issues with transmissions around 2008.
Honda was notorious for having issues with their auto transmission in the 2000's. Some of these issues exists in the late 90's Acura and was passed down to the Honda line.
By 2008, the Odyssey trans got better and less case of it failing before 100K or slightly after. During this period, you were protected if it failed under 100K but most failed not too long after that. There are some important things to watch out for with these transmission. Keep the fluid clean. Replace the inline ATF filter (if there is one) and check for debris on the multiples electronic solenoids.
I have a 2004 that had the internal of the trans rebuilt around 160K miles. It failed again after 15K miles. I replaced all the solenoids (though they appeared to still work) and transmission ran fine again.
So far I don't feel any problems with the tranny. Do they fail catastrophically or do they give you a warning usually? Like car batteries, they don't usually die on me immediately but tell you when they are about to go out so you have a chance to replace them in time.
You can test for slippage by keeping an eye on the tach as you accelerate. Also test how smoothly it shifts from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc..
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